Baby&#39;s plate holder



Feb. 14, 1950 J wHlTE BABYS PLATE HOLDER Filed Sept. 17, 1948 Inventor cf hn 7. Wh/fe A Home Patented Feb. 14, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BABYS PLATE HDLDER John T. White, Palmyra, Mo.

Application September 17, 1948, Serial No. 49,838

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a novel plate holder adapted to he detachably applied to a high chair tray for detachably engaging and retaining a babys plate thereon to prevent the baby from lifting, pushing or throwing the plate off of the tray thereby dumping the contents and possibly breaking the plate.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plate holder of extremely simple construction which can be quickly and easily applied to or removed from a high chair tray and to which a babys dish or plate can be quickly and easily applied or removed and which will function for effectively holding the plate in a fixed position on the tray.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view showing the holder in an applied position; a

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the plate holder in its entirety and which constitutes the invention is designated generally 5 and includes a substantially endless strand of wire, designated generally 6 which is bent and shaped to provide a downwardly offset inwardly projecting hook outwardly offset diametrically opposed portions 8, and outwardly ofiset portions 9 disposed in diametrically opposed relationship to the hook portion 1 and equally spaced from the portions 8, and arcuate outwardly bowed plate engaging portions I!) extending between the hook I and each of the bar portions 3 and between said bar portions 8 and the portion 9. The hook I as clearly illustrated in Figure 1 is adapted to detachably engage under an edge of a portion of a high chair tray H and said hook portion is provided with inwardly projecting legs 12.

A substantially U-shaped hook member I3 is provided with eyes 14 at its terminals which turnably engage the portion 9. A spring i5 is disposed on the portion 9 between said eyes l4 and has one end thereof engaging a leg of the hook l 3 and its opposite end bearing on the upper side of a part of the portion 5 so that said spring it will normally urge the hook l3 inwardly or toward the hook I. The inwardly offset lower portion of the hook i3 is adapted to engage under another portion of the tray l and opposite to the portion thereof engaged by the hook I and is yieldably and detachably held in engagement therewith by the spring is which permits said hook 13 to be swung outwardly and upwardly with respect to the tray for applying the holder 5 thereto or for removing it therefrom.

A substantially U-shaped hook !6, having an inwardly ofi'set intermediate portion, is provided with depending legs each terminating in an eye H. The eyes I! turnably engage spaced parts of one of the bar portions 8 for swingably mounting the hook is thereon. A spring i8 is wound on the portion 8 between the eyes !1 and has one of its ends bearing over a portion of the strand 6 and its opposite end bearing against a leg of the hook it for urging the upper, inwardly projecting portion of the hook l6 inwardly and downwardly with respect to the holder 5. A similarly shaped hook I!) is provided with eyes 29 at the terminals of the legs thereof which turnably engage the other bar portion 8 for swingably mounting the hook l9 thereon. A connecting bar 22 extends un der the frame 5 and has one end 23 which preferably constitutes an extension of one of the eyes I! and which extends downwardly in a direction away from the hook IS. The other end of the bar 22 extends upwardly and toward the hook l9 and terminates in an eye 24 which slidably engages one of the depending legs of the hook Hi. When the hook I5 is disposed in a normal position and with its upper portion extending inwardly and disposed above and substantially parallel to the portions iii, the hook 155 is similarly disposed. When the hook it is swung outwardly or to a disengaged position, the end 23 of the bar 22 will be swung inwardly of the frame 6 to cause the connecting bar 22 to move from right to left of Figures 1 and 2, thereby causing the connecting bar eye 24 to move to the left indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2, for also swinging the hook l9 outwardly and downwardly to a plate releasing position.

When the books t and iii are thus swung outwardly and downwardly to released positions, a babys plate be positioned in the holder 5 and within the portions it thereof after which by releasing pressure on the hook it, the spring i8 will return both of the hooks l6 and 9 to their engaged positions of Figures 1 and 2 for securely clamping the babys plate or dish 25 in the holder 5 and so that the dish will be held by the holder against movement relatively to said holder and accordingly held against movement relatively to the tray H due to the fastening of the holder 5 to said tray by the hooks I and 13, as previously described.

The connecting bar 22 may have its intermediate portion 26 flattened and outwardly curved to be disposed around a part of the plate bottom. The intermediate portions of the hooks l6 and I9 are outwardly bowed to conform generally to the curvature of the rim of the plate 25, as seen in Figure 1, and are preferably fiattened. The intermediate portion of the hook I3 is provided with a loop forming a depending handle 21, and the intermediate portion of the hook l6 has a similar loop forming an upstanding handle 28. The handles 21 and 28 are adapted to be manually engaged for swinging the hook l3 and the hooks l6 and I9, respectively, outwardly to inoperative positions.

It will thus be readily apparent that a plate or dish holder of extremely simple construction has been provided which will hold a babys plate on a high chair tray in a secure manner so that the plate cannot be picked up by the infant and inverted or dropped for spilling its contents and possibly breaking the plate or dish.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A plate holder comprising a frame adapted to be supported on a high chair tray, hook portions projecting from said frame and detachably engaging under the tray for mounting the frame thereon, a pair of swingably mounted hook members projecting upwardly from said frame and having inwardly extending upper portions adapted to engage over portions of a plate for retaining the plate in engagement with the frame, and at least one .of said last mentioned hook portions being swingably mounted for releasably engaging the plate.

2. A babys plate holder as in claim 1, and spring means for yieldably urging said swingably mounted hook inwardly and downwardly and toward an engaged position.

3. A plate holder as in claim 1, said other plate engaging hook being swingably mounted, link and lever means connecting said hooks to cause said hooks to swing outwardly and inwardly toward released or engaged positions, respectively, as a unit, and spring means associated with one of said hooks for normally retaining the hooks in plate engaging positions.

4. A plate holder as in claim 1, at least one of said tray engaging hooks being swingably supported on the frame for outward movement to a released position for detaching the frame from the tray.

5. A plate holder as in claim 1, at least one of said tray engaging hooks being swingably supported on the frame for outward movement to a released position for detaching the frame from the tray, and said swingably mounted tray engaging hook being provided with spring means for yieldably retaining it in an operative, tray engaging position.

6. A plate holder as in claim 1, at least one of said tray engaging hooks being swingably supported on the frame for outward movement to a released position for detaching the frame from the tray, and said swingably mounted tray engaging hook being provided with spring means for yieldably retaining it in an operative, tray engaging position, and said other tray engaging hock being rigidly disposed relatively to the frame and formed integral therewith.

7. A plate holder as in claim 1, said frame in eluding spaced outwardly bowed arcuate portions extending between the tray engaging hooks and the plate engaging hooks and adapted to engage around the plate for holding the plate against lateral displacement relatively to the holder frame.

8. A plate holder as in claim 1, said other plate engaging hooks being swingably mounted, and link and lever means connecting said hooks to cause the hooks to swing outwardly and inwardly toward released or engaged positions, respectively, as a unit.

9. A plate holder as in claim 1, said tray engaging hooks being disposed at right angles to the plate engaging hooks.

JOHN T. WHITE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,177,728 Snyder et al Apr. 4, 1916 1,483,588 Meyers et al. Feb. 12, 19.24 1,925,540 Neuschotz Sept. 5, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 473,080 Great Britain Oct. 6, 1937 

